6 Control systems Control systems are designed in many forms and are utilized throughout a range of alreraft applications. A specific input, such as moving 4 lever or joystick, ‘causes aspeciic output, such as feeding current to an electric motor that in turn operates a hydraulic actuator that moves, c.g the elevator of the airralt At the same time, the ‘of the elevator is detected and fed back to the pitch attitude controller, so that small adjustments can continually be made to maintain the desired attitude and altitude. ‘Corral systems invariably comprise a number of elements, components or sub-systems that are con nected together in a particular way. The individual clements of a control system interact together to satisfy a particular Functional requirement, such as modifying the pasition of an aircraft's control surfaces, ELEMENTARY CONTROL The simplest contrl systems can be ilastrated by clec- trical circuits; in re 6.1, these le cireuits are ‘used to control (a) lightbulb and (b) a motor, Closing the switch completes the circuit and allows electrical ‘energy to flow fram the battery to the baad, where the ‘electrical: ‘is converted into the desired function, eg light or movement. Opening the switch stops the supply of energy to the load. The cnergy required to ‘open or close the switch has no to the amount of energy being controlled, In the example given, the controlling energy is mechanical; the con- ‘tolled energy is electrical; the resulting energy is (a) light and (b) kinetic, (Heat is often a byproduct ) (0) Battery Switch (otf) Butt 61 Simple control systems: simple electra crcusts~(a) lightbut (b) moter KEY POINT eee eee ter! Pe eeeLoa Another example of control systems i illustrated in Figure 6.2, which depicts a water turbine system. ‘Water is contained in a header tank, or some other form of reservoir. Opening the walve allows watex to flow through the turbine, which causes the turbine to rotate; the water then exits the system via the outlet. gy of the water is converted into by the valve. As with the electrical circuits, the work required to-open or close the valve is independent of the rate of energy conversion, One in differ. cence hetween the water turbine example and the given electrical circuits is that there are an infinite number of positions that the water control valve can bbe adjusted to, The rate of energy conversion can be controlled to any desired value between zero and maximum. ‘The electrical equivalent of this variable control ‘can be illustrated by replacing the on/alf switch with a theostat — see Figure 6.4, When the sliding contact cf the rheastat isin position A, the electrical circuits ‘open, no current flaw’ and the motar does not turn ‘When the sliding contact of the rheostat is in position 1B, maximum current flows ia the circuit and the ‘motor turns at its Fastest speed, At any position of the sliding contact of the rheastat between positions A and B there will be an interim motor speed proportional ‘to circuit current, which is determined by the slider position, As with the previous examples, the amount CONTROL SYSTEMS 89 G2 Water turbine contro! systern cas Bulb 4 {FY {He CF G3 Rhecstat control systern ‘fener gy required to move the sider has no relation- ship to the amount of energy supplied by the battery, tor given by the motor. “The final example is illustrated with a simple audio system —sce Figure 6.4. When sound is sensed hy the microphone, its diaphragm vibrates and a vari- adeeetisr a Wes Gh Simple cudio contra system90 AIRCRAFT FLIGHT INSTRUMENTS AND GUIDANCE SYSTEMS ation of current is created in the circuit. This current ‘ariation is amplified and the output fed toa speaker. Depending om the circuit arrangement, amplifier and s0 08, the resulting sound encrgy from the speaker i higher than the input to the microphase, ‘CONTROL SYSTEMS. ‘When the control function x independent of the ‘obtained result, the system is called an open-cycle system. In an apen-loop control, the value of the input variable is set to a given value in the expectation that the output will reach the desired value. In such a system there ino automatic comparison of the actual ‘output valne with the desired output value in order ‘to compensate for any differcaces. A. simple open-loop ystem schematic is ted in Figure 6,5; it can Ibe illustrated with the analogy of a water tank, Figure 66. ‘Water flows into the tank From the supply when the valve is opened. When the water in the tank reaches the desired level, the valve is turned off, The actions of opening and clasing the valve, and deciding -—(=H=I 65_Oper-toop cantsal system schematic Hard valve con the required water level, are both manual oper ations; there is no automatic link between these actions, Le. t san open-loop system. Now consider the water tank arrangement of Figure 6.7; the water level is now monitored by a sensor that transmits a signal to a controller When ‘water & taken out of the tank by a demand from the system user, the level drops and a conteol signal is sent to the valve. Water is piped back inte the tank from the supply. Now there is an automatic link between these actions, ic. itis closed-loop system. A simple closed-loop system schematic is represented in Figure 68. “Toillustrate this further, consider an oven with ane heat setting, controlled by a timer. The contralling action of the timer has no relationship to the heat inside the oven, and the oven’s temperature. Closer control of the oven's temperature can be maintained by observing a thermometer inside the oven; by manually turning the system on or off, the temper ature can be regulated, The switch is turned on by a person when the temperature falls below the desired ‘alue, and of when the temperature goes above the desired value. In this example, the person actually clases the loop ‘on an intermittent basis. In effect, the aven relies on thurman intervention in arder to ensure consistency of the food produced, Clearly, open-loop control has some significant disadvantages for more complex systems. What is required is some means of dosing the loop in order to make a continuous automatic Water in —= 66 Oper-ioop system schematic — water tankCONTROL SYSTEMS 91 G7 Closed loop system schematic woter tant — GB Closedicop system schematic comparison of the actual value of the output com- pared with the setting of the input control variable, Control of the oven temperature could be auto- mated by substituting the person and thermometer ‘with a bi-metalic switch oF thermostat, as in Figure 6.9, When the oven Is wwitched an, but below temperature, the thermostat is clased and the heating clement starts to warm up. When the desired tem. perature is achieved, the thermastat opens and the heating element is disconnected from the supply. The oven temperature is automatically regulated by the 69 Oven temperature control system92 AIRCRAFT FLIGHT INSTRUMENTS AND GUIDANCE SYSTEMS ON/OFF Control 6.10 Tempesature control profie: thermastat, ie. there is no recpuirement for a person to do anything other than to turn the oven on or off as required. The relationship between the heater ‘on/off control and temperature profiles over a given time period is shown in Figure 6.10, “There are many advantages of closed-loop systems. Some systems use a very large number of input vari- ables and it may be difficult or imposible for a human ‘operator to keep track of them, Comtral can be extremely complex and there may be significant interaction between the input variables Some systems may have to respond very quickly to changes in vari- ables (human reaction times may not be fast enough). Many systems require a very high degree of precision; human operators may not be able to work to a sul- Sciently high degree of accuracy. Pam s ‘SERVO CONTROL SYSTEMS: Overview: Servomechanisms, or servo control systems, are tiled In many aircraft applications to automatically control the operation of systems, The servo cantrol system ix based on changes of a control input causing corresponding output changes, Transducers are devices used to-convert the desired parameter, &.g, presure, temperature, displacement and 10 on, into electrical energy. The transducer's output signal is amplified, applied to a motor that is used to- contra an output aad. practical closed-loop control system twsed to control the speed of an output shafts illus- trated in Figure 6,11, The desired input speed is set by the operator by selecting a position an a poten: tometer, An amplifier compares the selected speed and compares this to the feedback from the output load's speed. Difference signals (termed errors) from the output are fed back to the error detoctar so that the necessary corrections can be made to reduce and tukimately eliminate the difference, or error, between input and output ‘Closed-loop systems are wed to convert small ‘put signals (typically from a transducer) into larger ‘outputs (typically via an actuator); the relationship between the input and the output is proportional and in accordance with a predefined gain, oF contro Laws. ‘The practical application af servo control systemsG11 Clesed-tcop speed controt system: Caste eae? mi Teed er eee eter aac ue Hference between ea Ly coated ee Dogon er Cee Cree eee ne CONTROL SYSTEMS 93 is covered in automatic pilot chapters. In the example described, the servo motor feedback is provided by a position sensor; some servo control motors give feedhack 2s motor speed or acceleration. System response In a perfect theoretical system, the output will respond instantaneously to a change in the input value (set point). The theoretical serve amplifier must be able to provide an infinite acceleration, There will be no delay when changing from one value to another and no time required for the output to settle to ite final value, In practice, real-world systems take thine to reach their final sate. The practical servo system has 4 critically damped response, necessary to prevent oscillation. Very sudden changes in output may, is some cases, be undesirable Furthermore, friction and inertia are present in many systems, ‘The inertia of the load will effectively limit the acceleration of the output motar, Furthermore, a8 the output speed reaches the desired value, the inertia present will keep the speed increasing dey Taaction i alge spied tothe motor Tha, the ‘output shaft speed will overshoot the desired value, before everitualy falling back to the required vale. ‘There are two types of input toa serve system, ramp inputs and step inputs— see Figure 6.12. Ramp inputs gradual change a gen ape tcp int chige vane occrs when the pt changed very quickly, e.g in the case of the speed input control system, the control input is instantaneously set to a ‘new position, The system's inertia through the motor94 AIRCRAFT FLIGHT INSTRUMENTS AND GUIDANCE SYSTEMS Postion —— Poution i —= GA2 Serve systems inputs () step, (0) ramp. (0) dampieg of step input, (6) damging of ramp input Tine =and gears cannot respond instantancously, so there is a large error signal. The load is accelerated to the new position, thereby reducing the error to zero, The load is now responding at a constant rate and will even- tually overshoot the required speed. The overshoot causes an error signal in the opposite direction, and the ousput speed is now reduced tawards the desired speed, If frictional losses are zero, a continaous oscillation is created, with a constant dead space in the system, In practical systems, there will be some friction, and the system's dead space will eventually reduce to zero, A ramp input occurs with a smooth rate of change of the controlling input. The error signal is initially small; the output accelerates slowly, but still lags behind the input, There is an oscillatory response as shown, with acon velocity lag. Friction is force phenomenon which opposes the relative movement between two contact surfaces, It 2 plbysial phenomenon, expressed in qualitative teres as the force exerted by either of the bodies tengo operate geal pean of the other, Friction is modelled as a linear combination of * Coulomb friction + Stiction: * Viscous friction Coulomb friction, named after the French playsicét Charles-Augustia de Coulomb (1736-1806), is constant friction contribution, ie.it isnot dependent ‘on velocity. In servo systems, steady.atate errors and tracking crtors ate mainly caused by statle friction (stiction), which depends on the velocity’s direction, and the viscous friction that increases the damping of a system, Although the Coulomb friction model ‘Simplifis the frictional phenormena, itis widely wed in servo control systems if dynamic effects are not a consideration. The Coulomb friction force (F,) is of constant magnitude, acting in the directian opposite to motion, as in Figure 6.1343), One of the | considerations for the Coulomb ‘model is that it docs not account for the zero velocity condition, hence the propertics of motion at starting ‘ar zero velocity crossing, i.e, static and rising static friction, or stiction. ‘Viscous friction is proportional to the relative movement, or sliding velocity. Here, the frictian is considered to be proportional to the velocity, and CONTROL SYSTEMS 95 " f ' 5 | ; ® . rn fo 613 (c) Coulomt fection, (b) vscous friction is expremed as a function ofa viscous friction eoefl- Gent, B, multiplied by the velocity, as seen in Figure 6.13(b). The force needed to maintain a constant velocity is the same magnitude as the wiscous friction force, but in the opposite direction. In some extreme caves the oscillation which occurs \when the output value cycles continuously above and below the required value may be continuous, The ‘oscillatory component can be reduced (or eliminated) by artificially slowing down the response of the sys. tem this is known as damping, Oscillations in a control system are undesirable; is used to reduce the overshoots. Inherent friction will provide light damping, and maximum overshoot. Heavy damping eliminates the overshoot, but means that the system Is unresponsive, or sluggish, Critical damping gives one small overshoot apd allows the system to provide the optimum response. the gain of the system will have the effect ‘of increasing the acceleration, but this, in turn, will also produce acoerespendingly greater value of overshoot,96 AIRCRAFT FLIGHT INSTRUMENTS AND GUIDANCE SYSTEMS, np E14 Decdbond respome (@) Ideat | UV L= 615 Gonth cuweard damped cxcflaticn, ‘Conversely, decreasing the gain will reduce the over- shoot but at the expense of slowing domen the response. Deasdhand tefers to the inabslity of aconteal system to respond to a small change in the input; in other words, the input changes but the outpat does not, Deadband is illustrated by the ideal and actual system respanse shawn in Figure 6.14. Deadband can be reduced hy increasing the gain present within the aystern but, a8 stated earlier, this may have other undesirable effects, Output Wy CesareTEST YOUR UNDERSTANDING Expain why (a) deadband and (b) hunting are undesirable in a control system. Explain the effect of (a) unde-damping and (b) over-damping in relation to-o control system, iustrate your answer with appropriate graphs, ‘The ideal response consists of a step input func tion, whilst the actual response builds up slowly and shows acertain amount af overshoot. The response of 4 control system generally has tw basic components ane’ ror cure anda damper cacaton see Figure 6.15, MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS 1. An open-loop control system ia one in which (a), No feedback is applied (b)_ Positive foedback is (©) Negative fecdback is applied 2. The range of outputs close to the zero point that 2 control system is unable to respond to is referred to as: (2), Hunting (b) Overshoot (©) Deadband 3. A closed-loop control system ls one in which: (3) No feedback i applied (hb) Negative feedback is applied (6) Positive feedback is applied 4. The gain of a servo control system determines: (a) How fast the servo motor tries to reduce the (b) Damping (©) Hit is open or cloned loop 10, CONTROL SYSTEMS 97 . Servo system feedback has to: be negative to minimize: (@) Deadband (b) Gain (€) Oscillations “Overshoot ina control system can be reduced by: 2) Reducing the damping 4b) Increasing 2 renga dooping ‘Decreasing the gatn of 2 servo systern will (a) Reduce the overshoot and slow down the response Reduce the overshoot and speed up the response Increase the overshoot hut slaw dawn the expanse “The optimum value of damping is that which allows: by o 4a) No overshooting {b)_ Increasing overshooting 4) One senall overshoot Ramp inputs are characterized by: (a) Gradually changing at a given speed (b) Changing instantaneously Ae). High gain servo systenas “The output of 2 control system continously ‘omcillating above and below the required value is Aknorwn as: (a) Deadhand qb) Hunting 4), Oversboot